Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Short Interest Update

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,410,000 shares, a decrease of 6.2% from the October 15th total of 4,700,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4 %

COST stock traded down $2.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $576.27. 967,401 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,803,338. The company has a market cap of $255.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $563.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $541.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $447.90 and a 52 week high of $599.89.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 26th. The retailer reported $4.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.79 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $78.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.72 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 28.10%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 15.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 2nd. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Caton Frates sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.64, for a total value of $675,168.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,705,358.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Caton Frates sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.64, for a total value of $675,168.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,705,358.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $566.09, for a total transaction of $1,132,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,412 shares in the company, valued at $14,385,479.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,265 shares of company stock worth $10,797,118 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth $84,000. CM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth $296,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 232.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,160 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,195 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Camarda Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Camarda Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 66.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, October 30th. HSBC started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $482.00 to $502.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $535.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $586.43.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.